The invention has been devised as an electrodynamic machine for generating an electrical current, although it may also be used as an electric motor.
Typically, an electrodynamic machine comprises two parts, being a stator and a rotor, one of which incorporates a magnet (which can be either a permanent magnet or an electro-magnet) and the other of which incorporates a conductor. In the case of an electric generator, relative movement between the rotor and the stator generates an electrical current in the conductor. In the case of an electric motor, the passage of an electric current through the conductor induces rotation of the rotor relative to the stator.